DENNIS WEAVER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Dennis Weaver was born in Joplin, Missouri on June 4th, 1924 with the birth name William Dennis Weaver to parents Walter and Lena.  As a young boy he already had aspirations to become an actor.  He attended junior college at Joplin Junior college now known as Missouri Southern State University and then he transferred to the University of Oklahoma and studied drama as well as got involved on the track team.    

After graduating he joined the military and fought during World War II.  as a pilot in the United States Navy.  Dennis then decided to try out for the US Olympic team in decathlon and finished sixth, not making the team so therefore decided to pursue a career as an actor.
 
He began with working on the stage making his Broadway debut as an understudy in, "Come Back, Little Sheba" which he soon took over the role for Chapman and toured nationally.  He then enrolled in the Actors Studio and while studying to support his family he worked a number of other jobs such as a salesman for vacuums, women's hosiery and tricycles.
 
In 1952 he signed a contract with Universal Studios and made his film debut in, "The Redhead From Wyoming".  This role followed with a number of other small roles on a variety of films but he still continued to work other odd jobs to make sure he could financially support his family. 

Soon he got his big break with a role on the television series, "Gunsmoke" (1955-1975).  This series became the longest running series in US television history.  In 1959 Weaver even earned an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series.  This really helped boost his career and began to get him noticed by film critics and those in the industry.  He was then cast in an Orson Welles film called, "Touch of Evil" (1958).  

Soon roles were becoming more available to him with his next offer working on an NBC comedy called, "Kentucky Jones" (1964-1965) followed by another television series role, this time on CBS called, "Gentle Ben" (1967-1969).
 
Earning another two Emmy wards for his role on the series, "McCloud" (1970). He then worked in 1978 no another mini-series called "Centennial".  Along with stage, television and film roles, Weaver also did a number of television movie appearances such as on, "The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd" (1980). 
 
Weaver continued to make a number of appearances later in his career such as in the film, "Bluffing It" (1987) and on the animated television series, "The Simpsons" (2002).    

Weaver also served as President for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) between 1973 and 1975 and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the Television Industry.  In 1981, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame.  Dennis Weaver's final role was on the television show called, "Wildfire"  (2005) which turned out to be his last as he passed away on February 24th, 2006 in Ridgeway, Colorado from complications due to cancer.
 
Throughout his life he was a environmentalist and was an avid vegetarian.  Dennis was also very involved in John Denver's Windstar Foundation and founded another organization called, L.I.F.E, which helped provide food for 150,000 needy people in the city of Los Angeles on a weekly basis.
 
Dennis Weaver married only once in 1945 to Geraldine Stowell with whom he had three children, Robby, Rick and Rusty.  Geraldine and Dennis remained together until his passing. 

 
Filmography

2005 Wildfire
2004 Home on the Range 
2003 Touched by an Angel
2002 The Simpsons
2001 Family Law
2001 The Beast
2000 Submerged 
2000 High Noon 
2000 The Virginian 
1998 Escape from Wildcat Canyon 
1997 Stolen Women, Captured Hearts 
1997 Seduction in a Small Town 
1997 Telluride: Time Crosses Over 
1996 Voyeur II 
1995 Two Bits & Pepper 
1994-1995 Lonesome Dove: The Series  
1994 The Great Battles of the Civil War 
1994 Greyhounds
1992 Mastergate 
1991 Captain Planet and the Planeteers 
1989 The Return of Sam McCloud 
1988 Disaster at Silo 7
1987-1988 Buck James
1987 Bluffing It 
1986 A Winner Never Quits 
1985 Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story 
1985 Magnum, P.I.
1983-1984 Emerald Point N.A.S.
1983 Cocaine: One Man's Seduction
1982 Don't Go to Sleep
1981 The Day the Loving Stopped
1980 Stone
1980 The Ordeal of Dr. Mudd 
1980 Amber Waves
1979 Police Story 
1979 The Ordeal of Patty Hearst 
1978-1979 Centennial
1979 Stone 
1978 Ishi: The Last of His Tribe
1978 Pearl 
1978 The Islander 
1977 Intimate Strangers
1970-1977 McCloud
1977 Cry for Justice
1976 The John Denver Special
1974 Flip 
1973 Terror on the Beach 
1973 Female Artillery 
1972 Rolling Man 
1972 The Great Man's Whiskers 
1971 Duel 
1971 The Forgotten Man 
1971 What's the Matter with Helen? 
1970 Swing Out, Sweet Land 
1970 A Man Called Sledge 
197- The Virginian
1970 That Girl
1969 The Name of the Game
1967-1969 Gentle Ben
1969 Judd for the Defense
1968 Mission Batangas 
1967 Gentle Giant 
1966 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1966 Way... Way Out 
1966 Duel at Diablo 
1965 Combat!
1965 Dr. Kildare
1964-1965 Kentucky Jones
1955-1964 Gunsmoke 
1961 Twilight Zone
1960 The Gallant Hours 
1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1958 Touch of Evil 
1958 Playhouse 90
1958 Climax!
1956 Navy Wife
1956 Big Town
1955 Storm Fear 
1955 Chief Crazy Horse 
1955 The Lone Ranger
1955 Seven Angry Men 
1955 Ten Wanted Men 
1954-1955 Dragnet
1955 Schlitz Playhouse
1954 The Bridges at Toko-Ri 
1954 Dragnet
1954 Dangerous Mission 
1953 War Arrow 
1953 The Nebraskan 
1953 The Golden Blade 
1953 The Man from the Alamo 
1953 Column South 
1953 Law and Order
1953 It Happens Every Thursday
1953 The Mississippi Gambler 
1953 The Lawless Breed 
1953 The Redhead from Wyoming 
1952 The Raiders 
1952 Horizons West